Ledger says Landrum's logs a lie

Clarion Ledger - Logs don't match Landrum's claims - GOP congressional candidate says signatures belong to him and wife, but other voters say signatures are theirs - Republican congressional candidate David Landrum insists he and his wife have voted for Gov. Haley Barbour in every election they could since 2003 and points to signatures on Hinds County voter logs as proof.

The problem? Some signatures he says are theirs belong to other people. "That is my signature," said Jennings Coincon, who voted in the 2003 general election in Hinds County and now lives in a retirement home in Fairhope, Ala.

Another signature that Landrum says belongs to his wife, Jill, actually is that of Jennifer Boykin, who now lives in Brandon. "I am stunned," she said.

Asked why he identified other signatures as his wife's, Landrum said the matter didn't concern his wife: "Is that what this is coming down to now? A signature?"

He questioned why the affidavit ballots he said he filled out in 2003 are missing from Hinds County records. "Where's all the paperwork?" he asked. "I swear to God I voted. My wife and I stood in line for the primary and general election at Lutheran Ascension Church. These other candidates, through typical dirty political games, are trying to make an issue out of things that really don't mean that much. "It's insulting because it's untrue," he said. "The bottom line is I voted, and that's it."

Landrum, the fundraising frontrunner for District 3, said the accusation he hasn't voted in recent years makes no sense. "From a business standpoint, why make the investment I've made and not show up and vote?" he asked.

Although he said he and his wife voted in 2003 in Hinds County, where they then lived, Hinds County records reflect neither was ever registered to vote.

Landrum pointed to two signatures on a log for affidavit voting - one he said belongs to him and one he said belongs to his wife. Neither signature appears to match their signatures in voting records in Madison County where they now live.

Landrum's signature in voting records resembles a cursive "D" with a tail. The signature he points to as his on line 3 of a Hinds County log is made with several straight lines.

No affidavit ballot appears to match the signature Landrum identifies as his. Landrum suggested those aimed at derailing his candidacy may have taken the ballot.

The signature Landrum pointed to on line 17 of the same log as his wife's belongs to Boykin, who voted in the Republican primary. Boykin said of Landrum's claim: "I can't believe he's doing that. It makes me mad." She said she was allowed to vote by affidavit after proving where she lived in Hinds County by showing her driver's license. Her name appears on the Hinds County voting rolls.

Whose signature?

Landrum says he and his wife also voted by affidavit ballot in Hinds County in the 2003 general election and points to two signatures on a log. But those signatures don't appear to match their signatures in Madison County voting records. And the one he identifies in the log on line 74 as his wife's actually belongs to Coincon.

"That is my signature, and that is not hers. I can assure her," said Coincon, who was in charge of athletic development at Millsaps College before retiring in 2004.

Landrum said that when he and his wife went to vote in Hinds County in August 2003 they were told to vote by affidavit ballot because their names couldn't be found on voting rolls. "By the time of the general election when we showed up to vote, we still weren't on it," Landrum said. "Both times we had to vote affidavit."

Months after the general election in November 2003, Landrum said the couple received a letter from the election commission, saying their votes wouldn't be counted. He said he no longer has the letter.

Connie Cochran, chairwoman of Hinds County Election Commission, said if the couple voted by affidavit in the August 2003 primary and their names weren't on the voting rolls, they would have been notified by mail before November 2003.

Landrum said the affidavit ballot with his signature is not the only thing missing from the Hinds County election records. An investigation by his election staff found "some of the log books are missing," he said. "We found stuff other places. There's something going on." Under the law, election officials are required to keep those records for no more than 21 months, Cochran said.

"I wouldn't doubt if somebody moved some of that," Cochran said. "There are special interests that have been looking at that. It's public record, and if somebody picked it up and took it away, shame on them. But what can we do about it?"

Voting records

According to Madison County records, Landrum registered to vote there in 1991 and his wife, Jill, three years earlier.

On the county's older computer system, which followed elections up until 2005, the last time Landrum was listed as voting was November 2000. On the county's new system, which has followed elections since 2005, the only election Landrum is listed as voting in is the general election last November.

Landrum said those records are simply wrong and that he was told a computer glitch was responsible. "I voted at the Catholic Church in Gluckstadt in the primary (of 2007), and I voted in the general election at Highland Colony Baptist Church," he said.

Madison County Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook responded, "There is no computer glitch."

She verified he voted in the general election in 2007. "There is no record of his voting history for the 2007 primary election. I cannot attest that he cast a vote - nor can I attest that he did not cast a vote. I can only affirm that the computer records do not reflect a voting history for the 2007 primary."

Election commissioners input voting history, she said. "If - and this is a hypothetical situation - a commissioner received a phone call in the midst of data input and lost his-her place when resuming the data input, perhaps his name was skipped."

John Rounsaville, also a Republican candidate for the 3rd District, first raised the issue of Landrum's voting more than a week ago. "We had heard rumors of him not voting," he said. "We checked them out." After Rounsaville alleged Landrum hadn't voted since 2000, Landrum responded in a news release that he had indeed voted in 2003 but in Hinds County. "The contribution that he (Landrum) made to Gov. (Ronnie) Musgrove was just two weeks before the election in 2003 and had a Madison address on his check," Rounsaville said. "Certainly he'll attack me for negative campaigning, but I think this is something the voters will want to know."

Landrum contributed $1,000 to Musgrove in 2003 - which Landrum said he did at a business associate's request to help push for tort reform - but contributed far more to Republicans.

In 2003, Landrum gave Barbour $5,000 - part of $48,000 he gave to Republican candidates. Landrum said he served on Barbour's transition team in 2004 and also on his finance committee in 2007. "I was his finance chair for Madison County," he said. In 2007, he also served on the steering team for Phil Bryant for lieutenant governor, he said.

Landrum accused other campaigns of "trying to sling mud. I'm choosing not to sling it. We have a positive message, and we're going to stay that way."

Rounsaville said Landrum's response is an attempt to shoot the messenger. "I'm not calling him petty names. I'm not spreading sordid rumors," he said. "I think if you're asking to be a congressman, you should have a voting record. It's the duty of every citizen, and I believe it."